Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31763
Title: Pastoral attitudes in view of rapid changes in the world of work
Authors: Restrepo, Sergio Bernal
Keywords: Vocation -- Catholic Church
Self-realization -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
Issue Date: 1998
Publisher: University of Malta. Faculty of Theology
Citation: Restrepo, S. B. (1998). Pastoral attitudes in view of rapid changes in the world of work. Melita Theologica, 49(2), 39-49.
Abstract: More than suggesting concrete attitudes that we should assume in view of the rapidly changing world at the centre of which is work, I like to propose a reflection on the state of the art so to speak of Catholic Social Thought regarding human work, from which each one, according to his or her situation, can conclude as to the necessary attitudes to be assumed in his or her pastoral endeavour. At the very origins of Christian Revelation we find the foundations of the present conception of work as expressed in numerous documents of the Church's social magisterium. In fact in the first pages of the Book of Genesis God reveals himself as a remarkable worker who has created man and woman as the only works of his hands which are at the same time, his own image and are called to fulfill his likeness in themselves. On cJ;eating God assigns a specific vocation to every creature. The entire material world is destined to a continuous growth whose plenitude transcends history when everything will be recapitulated in Christ (Eph 1, 10). Development is therefore, the vocation of the world. It must be noted however, that the Christian concept of development is one in which there is a mysterious interaction between the nature of things and human action which in many instances is necessary for the accomplishment of the will of the Creator. It is here that we understand human work as a necessary reality on the one hand, and as a complement on the other: nature requires the complement of human work while man and woman need nature with which they establish a fruitful dialogue. This type of relationship is useful in completing the work initiated by God and is also necessary for the salvation of human creatures who are saved precisely within the context of this relationship. As a partial result of the influence of varied cultural elements which, with the passage of time have become part of Church tradition, the transparency of the original revelation has been obscured to the point that even today it is difficult for many Christians to accept the positive vision of human work. However, to the Church Fathers it was quite obvious that work was not the result of sin, but an element of the first creation. In fact, they thought, God had created the substance of all things leaving to human industriousness their necessary transformation. For example, God makes the grain grow, but human work will be required to turn it into bread; God created the sheep's wool, but the intervention of man will be required to make of it a piece of cloth for protection. St. John Chrisostomus thinks that the human soul has been created for action and thus, if it is not active it will get involved in evil actions. When Adam became inactive, he lost the Garden of Eden. According to him, again, if idleness were a good thing, the earth would yield without seed nor farming. Work is therefore inherent to human nature. The present situation is the result of personal sin which has rendered this relationship between human beings and nature a dramatic one, a relationship which in its origins was harmonious. And yet, some Christians cling to this truth ignoring further developments introduced by the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through this new and wonderful reality, the human persons not only cooperate through their work with God's creative action, but can also offer a positive contribution to the work of the second creation, of the redemption of Jesus.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/31763
Appears in Collections:MT - Volume 49, Issue 2 - 1998
MT - Volume 49, Issue 2 - 1998

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